A Gift of the Castle
by NatureGirl52180
Summary: Takes place following the episode "Tears of Balmera". As the team watches over Lance, Pidge asks a question that leads to an interesting revelation. Everyone comes to an understanding about . . . understanding. **An ensemble cast folks, and the character selection option only allows for 4 characters.


_**Author's note:**_ _These characters are not mine. I think they're amazing and writing about them has been a lot of fun, but they aren't mine. I'm not receiving any money, getting this out of my head has been payment enough. Story takes place following the events of "Tears of Balmera".  
_

 _Nor do I own Doctor Who, which I will confess right here, inspired this story. I don't consider it a crossover and if you aren't a Whovian, I still think you might enjoy. I don't use any of the characters, just a concept. Check out a longer note at the end if you are confused. I can't put it at the beginning of the story because . . . spoilers_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Shiro awoke with a start and, as had become habit in the past few weeks, immediately began to try to make sense of the dark and disturbing images that haunted his dreams since his escape from the Galra Empire. He tried to concentrate, to remember, but it was like trying to grasp smoke. The images slipped right through his fingers and faded into the darkest parts of his mind.

Leaning against the wall, Shiro allowed himself a frustrated sigh before the gentle beeping of the monitor over his head drew his attention. The blipping line that monitored Lance's heart seemed as steady as it had earlier when Shiro and Keith had gently placed their wounded comrade in the healing chamber. Allura had assured them that if Lance experienced any distress at all, the machine would sound an alarm in the control room to bring help immediately to the infirmary.

That hadn't deterred Shiro or the others from standing watch over Lance. Pidge was across the medbay from him, stretched out on the floor on her stomach. She had retrieved her computer after they had all changed out of their uniforms, but the machine was closed now, and the young woman rested her chin on her hands, deep in thought. Next to her, Keith was sprawled out on a small couch and appeared to be dozing. Hunk was propped up against the wall opposite Shiro, alternating between napping, daydreaming, and glancing up to check on Lance.

Leaning slightly to the side, Shiro looked up from his seat on the floor to make sure the young pilot of the Blue Lion was all right. Lance was deep in a healing sleep and extremely pale. A quick diagnostic scan had revealed that Lance had sustained many internal injuries during the blast that destroyed the Castle of Lion's power crystal. It was a good thing Coran and Hunk returned with a replacement as quickly as they did. They had undoubtedly saved Lance's life.

It had been a hell of a day. Between the explosion and siege of the castle, the destruction of the Arusian village, and the hair-raising mission to the Belmara, it was a wonder the rest of them were still conscious. As Shiro settled against the wall, his bruised and battered body protested. The altercation with Sendak had inflamed the connection between his prosthetic arm and the rest of his body. He absentmindedly rubbed the area where the technology met flesh, muscle, and bone. He could feel the bruises tightening across his back and ribs, acquired when Sendak attempted to force Pidge to surrender by pounding Shiro and allowing the girl to listen in as he did so.

He knew the rest of them had taken a beating as well. Keith and Pidge had been thrown around by Sendak as they attempted to rescue Lance and Shiro. And he was sure that Hunk hadn't been on a stroll through the park. They had to be just as sore as he was.

But he hadn't heard one complaint. In fact, the worse it had gotten, the more the team had pulled together. The more they had fought for each other. Each of them had put the others before themselves, to the point that here they sat, hours after the battle, loathe to leave the company of each other or their injured comrade.

At some point, Shiro knew he was going to have to play the good commander and send everyone off to bed. Altean time-keeping was a little hard to get the hang of, but a quick glance at the chronometer confirmed that it was past bedtime for all of them.

 _Five more minutes,_ he reasoned with himself, _I'll give us five more minutes and then it's lights out._

Shiro had just leaned back against his wall again, allowing the cool alien metal to soothe the bruises across his back, when the sound of gentle footsteps caused him to look towards the door. Princess Allura, still dressed in her flight suit, paused for second before entering and smiled, "I see that Lance is still well-tended."

Shiro stood as the princess approached and called up the control panel. "How is he?"

The glow of the healing chamber illuminated her exotic, angular, alien features in a soft, blue light. After a few seconds, she smiled. "He's doing well. He should be up and about tomorrow morning."

Shiro frowned slightly as he studied the cadet. It was eerie to see Lance so still. "It's a good thing he had that armor on. It protected him from the worst of it. He's a lucky guy."

"And a brave one. If he hadn't pushed Coran out of the way . . ." Allura's voice cracked as she considered what possibly could have befallen her oldest friend and the only other living Altean. She closed her eyes and bit her lip for a second before forcing a brighter tone, "Fortunately, Lance's quick thinking saved Coran. And tomorrow he will be good as new."

Shiro gave her shoulder a brief squeeze of comfort before Hunk spoke up. "How's the castle repair coming?"

"Splendidly." Allura seemed relieved for the change of topic as she turned from the chamber. "Coran is running a few more diagnostics, but all of the systems look good. If all goes to plan, we should be able to launch tomorrow afternoon."

"And the plan is still to head for the Balmera?" Keith had woken up and was now sitting on the couch, arm slung over the back.

"Indeed." The princess nodded decisively. "After what the Balmerans did for us, I think it only fitting that we return the favor. Wouldn't you agree, Hunk?"

The pilot of the Yellow Lion nodded. "I made a promise to Shay and her family."

"And we shall see that you honor it." Allura promised.

During the entire conversation, Pidge had remained silent. She was sitting cross-legged now, listening, but still looking thoughtful. Finally, she spoke. "OK, so I have a question that's really been bugging me . . . especially since we met the Arusians and the Balmerans."

Allura smiled and folded her hands in front of her. "Then please ask it."

"How are we . . . " Pidge seemed to flounder for a moment, as if looking for the right words, "talking to each other?"

"Whaddya mean?" Hunk piped up before Allura could answer.

"Yeah." Keith put in, "You form a coherent thought, you open your mouth and words come out. You're talking."

Shiro crossed his arms and ducked his head to hide a smile at the withering look Pidge was giving the other two. He knew exactly where the girl was coming from with the question. It had occurred to him as well. He had just been too busy trying to build a team and keep everyone alive to really spare it much thought. He could understand everyone and everyone could understand him, and as far as he was concerned, that was all he needed to know.

Clearly, Hunk and Keith had been too preoccupied with flying lions, fighting aliens, and food goo to closely examine the fact that was altogether too easy to communicate with their new alien friends . . . or enemies for that matter.

"What?" Keith finally said in response to Pidge's death-glare.

Pidge rolled her eyes, annoyed, but apparently not ready to give up on her teammates just yet. She was going to make an attempt at walking them through this and letting them ask the question themselves. "We're from Earth, right?"

"Where you going with this, Pidge?"

Pidge pinned Hunk with a hearty stink-eye, daring him to interrupt again. "Think about all of the languages spoken on just that one planet. And we only speak one: English."

"Well, I speak some Spanish." Keith spoke up. "And French. And I know a few swear words in German."

"My point is," Pidge ground out as she gestured to a smiling Princess Allura, "Allura and Coran are Altean. Light years away from Earth on a planet where English has never been spoken. How are we able to talk to them? From the first moment we met them we have been able to communicate with them. In English."

There was a dawning of realization on Keith's face, but Hunk was a little slower to catch on. Shiro was sure that with an actual good night's sleep, this would not be that hard for Hunk to understand. Confusion knitted his eyebrows together as he tried to understand. "So . . . English and Altean are the same language?"

Pidge smacked her own forehead and dragged her hand down her face, growling. "No, Hunk! Guh!"

Shiro was about to attempt to calm the young woman down and suggest finishing the conversation tomorrow. But, she took a deep breath, splayed her hands at her sides, and committed herself to one last attempt. She looked calmly at Hunk who seemed slightly alarmed and now, extremely confused. "Hunk, did you talk to Shay on the Balmera?"

Hunk was leaning towards extremely confused and annoyed at this point. "I told you I talked to Shay. I told everyone I talked to Shay. I laid out verbatim what I said to Shay. So, yes I talked to Shay. Obviously."

"No, not obviously." Pidge insisted. "What language did Shay speak?"

"English." And there it was. Finally, Hunk understood what Pidge was driving at. "That's a little weird, isn't it?"

"It's really weird." Keith said quietly. "We've had contact with four different alien races over two different planets in a couple of weeks and the only language we've heard in all of that time has been English."

"And on our own home planet, people speak more languages then we can count." Pidge drove the point home. "And that is one planet and one race of people. There is no way that English is the universal language of the galaxy."

As one, the three paladins turned to the beaming princess, her sapphire eyes sparkling. "The Castle of Lions is more than just a structure; more than just a ship. It is a mystical creation, very much like a living creature with one sole purpose; to serve the Paladins of Voltron and aid them in their mission to spread peace and justice over the universe. To that end, it ensures that their message can be heard by any and all people under the cruel hand of oppression. It translates your words for others to hear and also translates the words of the people so that you might better understand."

Shiro was sure that Allura meant for her speech to be awe-inspiring, but his team was clearly still having trouble comprehending what she was saying. Pidge seemed to recover first. "And it does that . . . how?"

"By entering your mind and translating your words for you."

There was a stunned silence. Each of the paladins looked at the others before Hunk finally blurted out, "The castle is in our heads?"

"Yes." Allura beamed, apparently under the incorrect assumption that everyone now understood and was completely a-ok with this new enlightening detail of their existence.

"The castle," Hunk began again whispering, his tone taking on a slight note of hysteria, "is alive and in our heads?"

Allura cocked an eyebrow and looked at the Yellow Lion pilot sideways, "Yes?"

"Wait, hang on." Where Hunk and Keith seemed apprehensive, Pidge was nearly giddy with excitement. "Not only are the lions able to talk to us in our minds, but the castle lets us talk to . . . everyone else?"

"Yes." Allura's delicate pointed ears twitched as she placed a hand on her hip. Shiro was quickly learning that body language meant that the princess was coming to the end of her rather extensive patience. "The lions have the ability to communicate with their paladins, but the castle, as the vessel that carries them and therefore Voltron, bears the responsibility of ensuring that the Paladins of Voltron are understood, no matter where they travel in the universe."

"Are you guys okay with this?" Hunk squeaked. "I'm not sure I'm okay with this."

Allura threw up her hands in exasperation. "The lions already speak to you in your mind. What's the difference if the castle simply translates your words for you?"

"I knew the lion was there!" Hunk snapped back. "It didn't sneak up on me like some sort of space. . . castle . . .ninja!"

The princess may have growled a bit.

"So," Keith looked as though an uncomfortable thought had just occurred to him. "the castle reads our minds? It doesn't just translate?"

"Well, in order to translate your thoughts, I suppose the castle would have to read them."

"And you and the castle . . . talk?"

"I communicate with it and control most of our defense and attack systems."

Keith's brown eyes shifted back and forth warily, looking slightly betrayed. "Does it tell you about what it finds in our heads?"

Shiro had to hide a bark of laughter behind his hand and circle away from the conversation to get control of himself once more. He heard the princess reply to Keith's query with a confused and perturbed, "No!" Though it was pure speculation on his part, Shiro was willing to bet that there were a few daydreamed dalliances with a certain stunningly beautiful Altean princess that Keith would just as soon remained private. Lance may have been the most vocal where Allura was concerned, but that didn't mean Keith wasn't looking.

Pidge, annoyed that she was being ignored and her questions weren't being answered, bounced on the balls of her feet in front of Allura. "But when I speak, I still hear English. But you hear Altean?"

Giving Keith one more sideways glance, Allura returned her attention to Pidge. "Exactly."

"I'm speaking Altean!" The girl crowed excitedly.

Allura looked slightly taken aback. "Not exactly-"

Keith had recovered enough to ask another question. "And even though we're away from the castle, it still works?"

"The power of the castle stays with you, no matter how far you travel from it."

"Did you hear that?" Hunk practically shouted. "It's in our brains now, guys. Reading our thoughts, doing who-knows-what in there. I mean, there could be a tumor forming in my brain from this right now!"

Everyone stopped for a moment to just stare at Hunk. Unfazed, he jammed his forefinger into his temple and whispered, _"Right . . . here."_

Pidge ignored him to push in and ask, "Does it work by reading our brainwaves?"

Allura didn't have a chance to answer before Keith asked, "Is this a permanent thing? Am I gonna be, like 90 and still able to talk to aliens?"

"It can't have my grandmother's _Chicken Cacciatore_ recipes. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone!"

Things were officially getting out of control. Hunk was all worked up, Keith looked concerned, and Pidge was becoming an endless torrent of questions that Allura couldn't answer. Said Princess was on well on her way to a shouting fit, for the life of her not understanding why this was such a hard concept for any of them to grasp, either out of concern, curiosity, or panic.

It was time to step in. Shiro cleared his throat to get their attention. "Hey guys."

He was ignored.

"What if we wanted to opt out?" Keith was asking.

"It's not a cable TV service!" Pidge shouted, exasperated before turning back to Allura. "But what if I wanted to learn Altean for real? Could we do that?"

"It's not in there, like looking for information, right?" Hunk was sputtering, "Because I know nothing. No information."

Allura rolled her jeweled eyes in his direction, clearly unimpressed with Shiro's attempt as she crossed her arms. Shiro smiled and barked a bit more sharply. "Guys!"

"What if it wants my World of Warcraft password?"

Everyone looked at Hunk again before Shiro chuckled. "Guys, do you know what this is?"

The other three conscious paladins and one princess blinked at him, waiting.

He smiled. "It's one less thing to worry about. Think about everything we have done in the past few days and how hard it has been. Now factor in not being able to understand a word anyone was saying."

Hunk, Pidge, and Keith all considered that for a few seconds before Pidge spoke up. "We'd be dead right now."

"Probably." Shiro agreed. "Now, think about everything we have left to do and imagine trying to do it with a language barrier to contend with."

There were pained expressions all around.

He looked at Allura. "The Princess and Coran have yet to steer us wrong-"

"Except with that Paladin's Lunch." Keith interjected, but he was smiling.

"Sorry, Princess, but I have to agree with Keith on that one." Shiro gave her wink at which she laughed lightly. "But everything else, they have been right on the money about. Like Allura said, this is a gift of the castle. Gifts shouldn't be questioned. Just accepted with thanks." He looked pointedly at his young team members. "Right?"

The others nodded their agreement before Pidge spoke up, "Sorry, Allura. I just got a little excited."

"I would be happy to answer those questions I can, Pidge." Allura replied gently, "But perhaps, one at a time?"

The others chuckled as the girl readjusted her glasses and smiled. "No problem."

"I'm sorry, too." Hunk, much saner now, agreed. "It's been a long week. It's a lot to process. . . and I mean a lot. I'm sorry I flipped out on you."

"Me, too." Keith half-smiled. "Any way you can tell the castle we appreciate the help?"

"You just did." Allura returned with a smile. "And I feel the need to extend my apologies to all of you. As Hunk said, much has been thrust upon you in a very short time. I will try to be more understanding in the future."

Shiro bowed slightly in her direction. "Thank you, Allura."

He was just about to send everyone to bed when Keith piped up. "Not to be a pain, but can I ask one more question?"

The look on the cadet's face boded nothing but ill. He was half-smirking, arms crossed, and leaning against the couch far too casually. Shiro eyed him knowingly, but turned to Allura. "It's your call, Princess."

Apparently, she was catching on to human body language, too, and picked up on the same cues that Shiro had. Even so, she crossed her arms and nodded. "You may."

"Why doesn't the castle translate 'quiznak'?"

Shiro could see the princess biting her tongue as she tried not to laugh. "Because the castle has standards and would never translate such a vulgar term."

From its contextual use, Shiro was pretty sure the entire team had come to the conclusion it was an Altean swear word, but nothing too heinous. It was Pidge that proposed the next question that Shiro knew had to be coming. "So, what's it mean?"

Allura's propriety was at war with her amusement. "Is it not enough to know that it is too vulgar for the castle to translate?"

Pidge, Hunk, and Keith all shook their head 'no'.

She laughed and shook her head, conceding defeat. "It refers to the Altean Sea Slug and their rather rigorous and disgusting act of . . . copulation."

Again, the cadets were silent until Keith managed to squeak out, " 'Quiznak' means 'horny slug f-"

"All right!" Shiro cut him off as Hunk and Pidge burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Allura, trying to regain her composure, hid her face behind her hands. Keith was snickering. "There will be plenty of time tomorrow to trade vile insults with an advanced alien race. Everyone to bed."

"Hang on, hang on." Hunk wheezed for a second, leaning on Keith for support. "Are you telling me that Coran has a potty-mouth?"

"Indeed." Allura shook her head. "And I can't tell you how proud I am that _that term_ was the first utterance of Altean the Voltron Paladins have managed to learn."

Shiro shut his eyes and limited himself to contained quiet chuckles as the others broke up more boisterously around him. When he had recovered, he reissued his order. "Come on, Team. Bedtime."

The others calmed down and Pidge moved over to collect her computer. As she knelt down, she looked up at the healing chamber. "What about Lance?"

"I'll look after him while you all rest." Allura spoke up. "If anything should change, I will call you."

Pidge seemed satisfied with the answer as she stood and moved towards the chamber and placed a hand on the glass. "See you in the morning, Lance." She turned to the princess and the commander. "G'night, Shiro. G'night, Allura."

"Goodnight, Pidge."

Both Hunk and Keith called their 'goodnights' to Shiro, Allura, and especially Lance as they waited for Pidge to catch up. Together, the three of them headed down the hall towards their racks.

Shiro turned to Allura. "Sorry about all that."

"It is to be expected." The princess looked after them fondly. "At least we got that all straightened out."

"Well, I wouldn't call it a closed case." Shiro turned to look at Lance, "We're going to have to explain the whole thing to this one in the morning."

Allura shrugged. "Perhaps Lance will take the news that the castle is covertly reading and translating his thoughts like a logical and rational person."

Shiro didn't answer her. He simply crossed his arms and crooked an eyebrow at her.

The Princess sighed. "I don't think he will, either."

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**_ _So I adore this new iteration of Voltron. It's amazing. But as I was watching it, of course, being a Doctor Who fan, my thought was "Oh look at them just understanding each other without a TARDIS." And then "Well, that castle is kinda like their TARDIS" I'm not sure that makes sense, but it was all downhill from there. Most people would call it a plot hole. I call it an opportunity to write a goofy story._

 _For non-whovians, the Doctor's spaceship (the phone box) is called the TARDIS and one of its many gifts to its passengers is the ability to understand and speak alien languages, no matter where or when they are. It takes care of the whole 'quick make up an alien language for the next episode' problem, which I think is fabulous. Ingenious._

 _So there you go. I hope it wasn't too confusing and that you enjoyed._

 _Thanks for reading,_

 _NG_


End file.
